Passport-less check-in ‘near Lahore, Pakistan’, Wagah Border

The
ultimate and the most-eagerly looked forward to destination of my Amritsar trip
was the visit to the Wagah Border for the flag lowering ceremony in the
evening. We left our hotel at around 3.30 PM (which we realized later, was
quite late) and drove on the straight GT Road (literally, not a single curve
and you can cross the border!) to reach Wagah Border by 4.30 PM. Thanks to the
previous day’s rain, we were told that the parking area was flooded and the
cars will have to be parked on the side of the main road and the rest of the
way till the viewing stands would have to be covered by foot. You would not
need any kind of guidance to reach the stands. Just follow the crowd. Yes, it
is a huge crowd!

Heading to the Swarn Jayanti Dwar, Wagah Border, India

As soon as
we were standing in the long queue leading up to the security check, we
realized two major mistakes we did: One, we hadn’t booked the VIP seats which
we could easily have done at Amritsar and two, because we didn’t have seats
booked and it was the Dussehra holiday weekend, we should have reached here at
least an hour ago so as to get seats in the stands. The place was overcrowded
today!

We got done
with the frisking at the security check which I felt was very hastily done. Even
malls in Delhi have better security checks! We moved towards the Swarn
Jayanti Dwar, the gate that we have seen so many times in Hindi movies. The
stands on both the sides were overcrowded and people were spilling out on the
stairs. I had to make an attempt to see what was happening. Coming to the
Border and not being able to see the ceremony- I wasn’t going to accept that!
Along with my cousin, I entered the stand on our right, pushing our way through
the crowd and ultimately being able to reach a pedestal from where we could see
the ceremony quite clearly. As soon as we were settled and waited for the
ceremony to begin, a startling reality came to our notice- the Pakistan side
gate and everything else was not at all visible from this place, in fact from
this entire stand! I was disappointed but in no mood to move out of the stand
and risk not being able to see the ceremony at all.

Now allow
me to explain the scene I was seeing. Trust me, you want to know this if you
haven’t been to Wagah Border! The time was quarter to 5 and the ceremony was to
begin in another 45 minutes. About 200 metres in front of me was the Pakistani
counterpart of the Swarn Jayanti Dwar. Till the time I hadn’t reached here, I
believed these 200 metres were the ‘No Man’s Land’ between the two countries.
That’s what we have seen in a few movies. But apparently, there are two more
gates right in the centre about 2 metres apart and a white line passes them
right in the centre. That is the Radcliffe Line. The India-Pakistan Border. And
the two gates are obviously closed. Songs that I have previously only heard on
Republic Days and Independence Days at school were on at a loud volume. While Maa
Tujhe Salaam played on the Indian side, a similar song could be heard on
the Pakistani side. Thousands of people had poured in into the Indian side of
the border by now. A clear sight of the Indian over population could be seen
here- the Pakistani side stands were nowhere close to full even when the
ceremony began while the Indian stands were overcrowded and hundreds of people
lined up on the GT Road, waiting anxiously for the ceremony to begin! And just
then, the music came to a halt.

45 minutes before the ceremony begins; Scene of Wagah Border, India

Indians running with the Tricolour, Wagah Border, India

The BSF
Jawans were clearing the crowd from the road and all the necks craned backwards
to the Swarn Jayanti Dwar, which on this side had ‘India’ and ‘Bharat’ boldly
written on it with the picture of ‘Mahatma Gandhi’ in the centre. And from
behind the gate emerged a green bus. This was something unexpected. The bus
moved slowly ahead and the words emblazoned on it became clearly visible to me-
‘Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation’. I was surprised. Thousands of
people were cheering, clapping and photographing the bus and the few people
inside the bus were clicking pictures of India in their final moments of
crossing the border into another country. In those few seconds that the bus
took to reach the border and the gates were thrown open for the bus to cross
the Radcliffe Line and speed into Pakistan (and the gates immediately closed),
I was smiling as I knew that just now a new thing had been added to my bucket
list!

The music
was back. Meri jaan Tiranga hai… The BSF jawans got huge Indian
tricolours and held them out to children, who held the flag and ran till the
Border gate and back. What a proud feeling it would befor them,
I thought, to hold the tricolor and almost run into the ‘enemy’ territory! This
soon followed with more songs. Jai Ho…brought about the hugest claps and
cheers and Ye Desh Hai Veer Jawaanon ka brought out all the dancers (bhangra
of course!) on the street. Amazing patriotic feeling! You have to see it to
believe it!

And then as
soon as the clock was about to strike 5.30, the Seema Suraksha Bal title
track started playing as the BSF jawans lined up to start the ceremony. Amidst
slogans of Hindustan Zindabad, Bharat Mata ki Jai and Vande Mataram, the
ceremony began. A competition of sort started with the commanders on both sides
of the border. A sound made by them, apparently to see who could make it for
the longest time and in a single breath! Hahaha…This was fun! In the 20-30
minutes that followed, the jawans walked in synchronized paths and timings to
the border, the gates on both sides were thrown open and the national flags of
the two countries were lowered. The march past that the jawans do here is
something I had only heard before- that their knees tend to reach their
foreheads. Certainly, they do! And the way they come to a halt, it seems they
are trying to kick the enemy soldiers away! Although it was a display of
courage, I couldn’t help but chuckle at the entire choreography of the ceremony
on both sides of the border!

Flying the Tricolour high, Wagah Border, India

The Ceremony begins, Wagah Border, India

At the end of the ceremony, people throng the GT Road and get close to the Border Gates, Wagah Border, India

At the end
of the ceremony, people on the Indian side flooded the Road. Even I didn’t want
to lose this chance to get as close to seeing that ‘white line’ as possible.
Amidst hundreds of people, we did manage to reach till about 10 metres away
from the Indian gate and got our photographs clicked. The Pakistani side was
deserted. The moment felt like a game of dare from the Radcliffe line- ‘You
have 30 seconds, look at me as much as you can, and memorize as much of this
place as is possible for you, for you won’t be here again anytime soon!’

The closest I could get to the Border, the Radcliffe Line, Wagah Border, India

And there goes my picture with the Border, Wagah Border, India

This was a
very unique moment. A unique feeling. I was looking at a land which was a
different country altogether. I was standing at a point where anything could go
wrong the very next moment and a war could ensure. I was at a point which
movies had shown to me in a completely different light. I was smiling. I was
feeling proud. I knew that I have to adhere to this new addition to my bucket
list- I have to cross this 10 metre distance, open those two gates and cross
the Wagah Border, twice! Yes, twice is an important word here! :D

Giving a
final 360 degree look to the entire place, I turned and moved back towards our
car, into the depths of my country. A signboard welcomed me into India.

The Swarn Jayanti Dwar, as seen from the Border and well, Pakistan; Wagah Border, India

The sign board welcomes me and the many visitors to India everyday; Wagah Border, India

P.S.:
Later, I got to know that the check-in I had done on facebook at Wagah Border
had somehow marked my location as ‘near Lahore, Pakistan’. True,
geographically. Impossible in reality. I do not even have a passport! But yeah, that's why the 'attractive' and 'misleading' title to this post! ;)

In case you missed the previous two posts of my Amritsar trip, here are the links:

Comments

Gosh, you took me back in time, to a trip I made there in my childhood! My favourite part was when the Indian and Pakistani guards would compete while saluting, (who could stamp their foot hardest) it was hilarious, and filled me with patriotism at the same time.